Summary: Landscape designs and ideas used in creating a landscape on bare or almost bare piece of property is different than the landscaping that comes with an old house, becomes unsatisfactory or requires a different look from the owner.
Question: We bought a house that is about 30 years old and the landscaping needs a complete remodel and overhaul. Currently our attention is inside but with warmer weather we want to look at what steps and where we should start on the garden landscaping. Please advise! Carly, Auburn, MA
Answer: Carly, the already made garden that comes with the purchase of an old house, and the garden that has become unsatisfactory to its owner, require a different approaches compared to the garden planning on a bare piece of property or newly built home.
I do not know how many times I’ve heard buyers of an old home say, “There are some nice plants in the garden, but the whole place is overgrown” or, “The garden’s has nowhere to sit outdoors” or “The house is just what we want, but I don’t like the garden.”
The problem is a highly individual matter, but I can offer two pieces of advice, which at first glance appear contradictory, but are almost always in order: “Don’t become so involved with work indoors that the garden is postponed indefinitely;” and “Don’t be in a hurry.”
The Garden Is An Extension Of The House
With regard to the first piece of advice, even if you are not especially “tuned in” to the garden, you must remember – the garden is an extension of the house; if the landscape and garden is attractive and usable, family life and entertaining tends to drift outdoors, reducing wear and tear in the living room, and wear and tear of everyone’s nerves, so that for purely practical reasons it is wise to organize the outdoor area.
The urgency of the second piece of advice often depends on the personality of the new owner. At one extreme, the organized, neat housekeeper, who must have everything in place and tidy, tends to make a drastic choices without planning, only to discover too late that plants have been destroyed that cannot be replaced without years of growing or considerable expense.
On the other hand, the individual to whom it is real stress and agony to destroy a productive thing, will try to keep so many unsuitable or superfluous plants that they will spend their gardening years going out of their way to get from one important area of the garden to another; or look at something that blocks the view or that they do not really like; or stoops to get round a branch they cannot bear to cut.
Finding A Happy Medium
Somewhere between the two extremes of wiping the board clean and ultra-conservation is the happy medium of discarding what is useless and preserving what is valuable in a new design. To achieve this sometimes places a severe strain on the temperament of the homeowner and gardener; indeed, it is interesting to note how often surrender to a personal quirk will mar the handwork of someone with ability and taste.
I remember a garden created by a very talented individual. They created a large and beautiful garden, containing a number of “sections”, each with its own particular interest, but the landscape had one very serious defect: the entrance to every separate part was so difficult, either because of an excessively narrow walk or an obstructive tree or a malfunctioning gate, that no one (except the individual) could move around the garden without becoming irritated. This is the kind of garden design flaw that the advice of a landscape professional can prevent; he may have just as many personal weaknesses as the owner, but he will usually have had them schooled out of him so far as his work goes.
The homeowner who is dissatisfied with their old garden differs only from a new owner in that they are more familiar with the problems. They may, however, be just as vague about a solution as the recent home buyer, and for this reason both as a new owner or an old home buyer both are advised to survey their respective situations and put it on a drawing board with a landscape plan.
